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As the chemical process industries transition toward sustainable manufacturing, robust tools are needed to evaluate and communicate the sustainability impact of products and processes.

Despite the publication of several pioneering documents and proposed guidelines from various academics, organizations, and manufacturing leaders (1鈥�3), there is still no industry standard for evaluating 鈥渟ustainable solutions.鈥� Life cycle analyses (LCAs) exist as a detailed, comprehensive tool for evaluating a product鈥檚 cradle-to-grave environmental impact. However, a complete understanding and quantification of sourcing, processing, end-use application, and end-of-life management is required to fully comprehend a product鈥檚 sustainability. The inputs to LCA calculations are not always available at the front end of research and development (R&D) projects. LCA is a retrospective tool useful for commercialized products, but it is often too cumbersome for novel chemistries at the R&D stage...

Due to the growing regulatory and market pressures to quantify emissions, carbon footprint, and general sustainability profile, many chemical companies are establishing their own evaluation tools. Increasingly, customers in the chemical process industries (CPI) demand reliable, low-impact, sustainable products for their applications.

The absence of standardized tools to assess sustainability could be due to the lack of a universal definition of sustainability in the industry. For some customers, sustainability means 鈥渂io-derived鈥� (4) or made from low-carbon-footprint manufacturing (5). For others, sustainability could mean highly durable and capable of resisting wear over extended periods of time. For some, sustainability could even mean financial sustainability. In the absence of a strict definition, chemical companies may find themselves struggling to measure their efforts, monitor their progress, and effectively communicate with their stakeholders.

This article describes one company鈥檚 efforts to develop a customized sustainability scorecard capable of evaluating the environmental, economic, and social impacts of its products and processes. In doing so, it was important to differentiate between product and process sustainability since these are complementary yet separate aspects of a product鈥檚 overall sustainability. Product sustainability focuses on what is made, whereas process sustainability focuses on how it is made. It is possible for biodegradable, renewable materials to be made through energy-intensive processes with toxic promoters and low yields. A case study on biobased rheology modifiers illustrates how applying this scorecard helped identify and address process inefficiencies, ultimately demonstrating how achieving sustainability isn鈥檛 always a straightforward path.

Creating a sustainability scorecard

Lubrizol鈥檚 corporate mission is to 鈥渄eliver sustainable solutions to advance mobility, improve well-being, and enhance modern life鈥� (6). Core to this mission is the company鈥檚 definition of 鈥渟ustainable solutions,鈥� which Lubrizol defines as technologies that meet at least one of the following three ideals:

• align health and environmental impacts by minimizing or avoiding substances and impurities that can harm human health or the environment
• anticipate future concerns such as potential future regulatory limitations and restrictions or customer voluntary decisions to exclude specific substances, ingredients, or materials
• deliver sustainable impacts by reducing climate impact, enhancing resource conservation, improving efficiency, or empowering circularity.

The Lubrizol Sustainability Scorecard was designed to provide a comprehensive framework for assessing the sustainability metrics of the projects in the company鈥檚 portfolio. This innovative tool enables rapid qualitative analysis and semi-quantitative measurement of the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of Lubrizol鈥檚 product lines.

By integrating key performance indicators (KPIs) and utilizing a multi-criteria analysis approach, this tool offers a holistic view of the sustainability performance of products and processes. It can, therefore, be used to facilitate internal decision-making, strategy development, and project prioritization by providing clear, quantifiable data that can be easily understood and acted upon.

Externally, this scorecard can be leveraged as a powerful communication instrument. It allows Lubrizol to transparently share sustainability data with customers, partners, and stakeholders, thereby demonstrating the company鈥檚 commitment to decarbonization and sustainable practices. Such transparency not only builds trust across the company鈥檚 network but also helps articulate the sustainable products鈥� added value, potentially unlocking new market opportunities and driving competitive advantage...